Strong Start Day

So . . . it was quite a spring. I slogged through February and March, being sick most of the time and just feeling crummy but maintaining my weight despite the fact that I gave up exercise for all of March. Then I had a pre-Easter hospital stay in which I dropped a couple of pounds.Then April and May in which I tried to build up my stamina while adjusting to a new job and new medications. Finally I am "back to normal" in terms of feeling well and managing to lose weight through a little trick but being undisciplined in my eating.

To get through Easter, 5 family birthdays, Mother's and Father's Day, as well as a half dozen "eat out" ball tournaments and a new job, I've simply been eating whatever I want, but half as much as I want to - or would normally - eat, pretty much at every turn. The exception is fruit and vegetables which I eat in full portion.  So if I want a bowl of cereal, I take a tiny half-sized bowl. This is working if my goal is to lose weight. But my true goal is to be healthy . . . which I'd somehow lost sight of . . . so I am returning as of today to my "box."

It dawned on me recently that my inner core of true health has been slipping away. That health has already rescued me once this year, so I don't want to get sloppy about it. It was that core of good health that "saved" me during all my weeks of Afib so it's crazy to not be "minding" it now! As of today, I am also getting back to regular exercise. My cardiologist cleared me for exercise three weeks ago, but I've been scared it will put me back into Afib. But as he says, I've got to get on with my life. I have to start slowly, 15 minutes a day, so today is the day.

In all these months of struggling with having enough energy to do the minimum I needed to do for my family, one thing has become abundantly clear: losing weight, per se, is not what matters most to me. Living is what matters. Being healthy and strong matters. Seeing my kids to their future matters. Having my hubby at my side matters. Having a core of health to support me in the next crisis matters. Weight loss is the means to the ends, not an end in itself.

Happy Strong Start Monday!

Strong Start and "In the Box"

Last year I lost weight with a medically supervised diet.  The classes would have been great for a beginner, but it was mostly old material for me.  However, they did teach two concepts that have been really useful for me.

The first concept is that of being "in the box."  It is an entirely different angle than "out of the box thinking" so you will need to let go of that methodology for the time being.

I absolutely love the "in the box" concept.  The main idea is that you consider everything you can eat that will support you in reaching your goals.  Perhaps your box will include lean proteins, low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etcetera. You imagine yourself putting all these things in a box.  This is your box and the goal is to eat only foods from the box which will result in being "in the box" each day, every day.

The concept of thinking of everything I will eat instead of everything I "can't eat" is a solid one. I had this concept a while back but without the box.  Somehow, the "box" changes everything.  When I am hungry or in a hurry, I can think of my box and choose something in there.  It prevents that whole drama of "well, I can't eat that  or this  and there is nothing here I can eat so I will just make a poor choice and start over tomorrow."

The other concept they taught was that of having a "Strong Start Day."  Each week we checked in and the next day was our Strong Start Day.  We took a few minutes to really think through the details of our tomorrow and plan how to get all our food in so that we would not be hungry or searching for the next meal.  Would we prepare food the night before?  Did we have meetings or travel or other things require special consideration?  What obstacles might we face?  How committed are we to being in the box tomorrow?

Last week I floundered with getting back on program after the holidays.  I know, I know, it would have been better not to get off program.  I see that now.  So yesterday was my Strong Start Day.  I was 100% in the box, never hungry, and therefore not all bummed out about the poor choices I was making.  Today I woke up ready for another day in the box.

Try these two concepts out for yourself and let me know what you think!